Health Care Ethics
Include at least one reference/resource from your course materials and at least one additional source besides your texts and readings that is a peer-reviewed scholarly article within the last 5 years.
Initial Post:
1. Ethics vs. Morals
a. Define and examine the concepts “ethics” and “morals” and how they differ from one another. Do not use direct quotes, but rather paraphrase and cite your source.
2. Morals
a. Define the three types of morality (personal, societal, and group). Do not use direct quotes, but rather paraphrase and cite your source.
b. Share a personal moral issue that conflicts with either group or societal morals, explaining how it conflicts. Examine how you manage the conflict (or how you would manage it if you shared an example you have not experienced).
3. Moral and Ethical Issues
a. Share an example of a healthcare-related moral or ethical issue from the perspective of the nurse or healthcare management professional. *A common example of a moral issue would be abortion or a Jehovah’s Witness refusing a blood transfusion or heparin (pork product). * A common example of an ethical dilemma would be a family member/healthcare proxy reversing the patient’s request for a DNR order. * A common non-nursing example of an ethical dilemma is protecting organizational interests versus patient or healthcare worker interests.
b. Explain which type of issue (moral or ethical) it is and why you believe so.
Note: *Do not cite the above moral or ethical examples as your response to this question. Do not use actual names. Be sure to share sufficient details about your example.
4. Code of Ethics**
For nursing students: Access the Code of Ethics at the ANA website (hyperlinked) and review the 9 Provisions. Select one Provision and one Interpretive Statement (found within the Provision you selected. Example: 1.2, 2.4, 4.2, etc.) that best represents the moral or ethical issue you wrote about above in question three (3).
a. Define the Provision and Interpretive Statement and apply it to your case. Be sure your response includes any guidelines and expectations found within the Provision.
b. How does your Code of Ethics assist the healthcare professional with identifying and making decisions about ethical issues in professional practice?
Sample Solution
Generally, the terms ethics and morality are used interchangeably, although a few different communities (academic, legal, or religious, for example) will occasionally make a distinction. Both morality and ethics loosely have to do with distinguishing the difference between “good and bad” or “right and wrong.” Moral refers to an individual`s personal stance, principles and values of what is right and wrong, whereas ethics refers to rules, principles, norms and values that are external to the individual, such as the norms and values of a social community, occupational codes of conduct, religious principles, etc. depending on your profession, it is possible for your morals regarding a certain matter to be stricter than the code of ethics for the same issue.
